Winter’s Bone: Not For Everybody

I’m not a fan of slow, gritty realism. To me, it’s intolerable. And I was reminded of how painful it could be when I watched Winter’s Bone. Don’t get me wrong – I love drama. But I’d much rather suspend my disbelief for two hours with a well-paced fantasy as I leave the cinema on a natural high. As long as the film has a decent tempo, though, I’m happy to watch in contented silence with the odd surreptitious handful of toffee popcorn.

Adapted from the novel by Daniel Woodrell, the film charts the tumultuous journey of Ree (Jennifer Lawrence), whose drug-dealing father has put the family house up as collateral for his bail. Risking losing her family and home unless her father attends a court trial within a week, Ree begins her quest to find her father.

A slow burning thriller, the film is technically a race against time for our plucky heroine, yet with the incredibly slow pace, it felt more like a slow laboured crawl with broken ankles minus a crutch. There were actually a few times when I had to hide the remote control to stop myself from fast-forwarding the film. But I stuck it out till the end, even if one eye was unflinchingly staring at the time counter as it sluggishly moved forward. Honestly, one-foot-a-year glacial speed would have been faster.

Ree’s search for her father, however, does become a distressing journey (for Ree and the viewer too). Refusing to be pulled into the life of drugs that her father inhabited, Ree encounters vehemently uncooperative and downright vicious relatives (both John Hawkes as Teardrop and William White as Blond Milton play their underhand, ferocious characters rather well). Although the film’s conclusion is an oddly upbeat ending (where Ree’s house is finally safe and she comes into money), I still found myself wishing I had the last two hours of my life back.

Although I disliked the film (if you hate anchovies, you’re not going to like them on a pizza), it did have a few redeeming qualities. The cinematography is effective with the bleak landscape skillfully reflecting the futility of Ree’s situation. Gray-scale and lack of color makes the voyeuristic journey a cold one. Despite the tedious tempo, the film was nearly bearable by the strong performances of the main protagonists. With just a handful of characters, there was considerable pressure on the leads – and they do deliver. Jennifer Lawrence is one to watch, as is John Hawkes (both Oscar nominees for best actress and best supporting actor respectively). Their scenes together seemed to lighten the turgid plot. The standoff between Teardrop and the sheriff after reaching an impasse is noteworthy, as I found Teardrop’s smouldering performance rather watchable. I found myself perking up in the hope that the film had finally found its rhythm, before being sorely disappointed as it reverted back to snail speed.

Some specific scenes made an indelible mark on my mind for all the wrong reasons. I’m slightly squeamish. I don’t appreciate crude violence. If I thought the scene where Ree is violently beaten up was hard to stomach, I was in for a revolting surprise. In trying to teach her younger brother to face up to his fears, Ree forces him to take part in skinning and disemboweling a squirrel. (Pass the potatoes, please.) Watching her tug at stretchy, elastic, innards was a brutal, sadistic, albeit mindless act. But squirrel guts wasn’t enough for director Debra Granik, who decided to push the gore-factor in the forthcoming boat scene. I physically cringed to see Ree grope underwater for her dead father’s body and assist in its mutilation, as a family member dismembered the corpse’s hands with an electrical saw. (I did find myself wondering how they knew exactly where to locate the body in the dead of the night, especially as it was hidden underwater). These stomach-churning scenes had me nearly seeing my food again (I hastily put down my chicken drumstick whilst I tried to blank out the unsavoury images tattooed on my mind).

The Sundance jury were obviously more appreciative (and had stronger stomachs) as the film won the Grand Jury Prize Award last year. And now nominated for four Academy Awards, Oscar night could be big for the team behind Winter’s Bone. But I’d be surprised to see if the Academy favours an average novel adaptation peppered with mutilated squirrels, sawed hands, and a plodding pace to boot…